Local artist Adam Anderson has an exhibition like no other, set to be on display in The Vault at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery from Friday 25 November.
The local artist has described the exhibition, Peep Show, as a voyeuristic installation which traces multiple transformations of identity through ritualistic encounters between costumes and the body.
Adam said it showcased a range of different art mediums, with no piece the same.
“In this exhibition, the voyeuristic titillation of peep shows is matched by the myriad of fantasy worlds entered into by a single artist repeatedly inhabiting absurd identities whose lives are confined to the duration of a performance,” Adam said.
“It will feature various sizes of photographic prints, short videos displayed on monitors, a projected hand-made stop motion animation (drawing), jewellery, small sculptural and wearable objects, costumes (many of which also feature paintings), sound, and bucketloads of makeup.
“The exhibition is aimed at celebrating the value and power of transformation and fantasy and enticing the viewer to partake in that as a means of drawing new ways of seeing themselves and the world around them.”
Adam said the exhibition had been a work in progress for many years, drawing inspiration from a range of life experiences.
“My artistic practice has revolved around notions of identity since I immigrated to Bundaberg from Israel in 1998 as a 10-year-old,” he said.
“I continued to draw and paint with this theme in mind until I discovered performance in my early twenties, at which time the paintings and drawings gradually made their way off the canvas and onto my body.
“Having completed a PhD in this field last year, I wanted to bring elements of my research into The Vault, finding that a relationship exists between the history of the space as a bank vault and my work being concerned with the way objects can become precious gateways into unknown selves.”
The exhibition is set to provide visitors with an experience like never before.
“I encourage people to visit any and every exhibition they can as art gives something to a person that cannot be put into words or gained elsewhere, that’s why artists make art,” Adam said.
“As no two artists are alike—and making art is a hugely labour-intensive and invested calling that is grossly underappreciated—I encourage people to think of exhibitions as a perhaps one-time-only chance to peer into another person’s spirit.
“More specifically, I encourage people to visit my exhibition because it’s a kind of trap—it will give you the cheap thrill of seeing something novel and dramatic but it also tugs at the veil of everyday reality, which is no less artificial than any of my little monsters.”
This exhibition has been supported through a Regional Arts Development Fund grant administered by the Bundaberg Regional Council and the Queensland Government.
The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
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